Last weekend bought a 99 Honda Accord so far things have been running smoothly but 2 issues I am hoping to get a little guidance on. 1st - When driving I must keep the wheel slightly to the left in order to go straight. I am guessing this is an alignment issue and would just need to take it in to a shop to have done but looking over the internet there is a lot of talk of your "toe" and "camber"? And argument about what to have those aligned to. Is there a standard setting? Also what would be a good price to expect to pay for having all 4 wheels aligned? 2nd - I have noticed at night when I have my headlights and dashlights on that they . . . dim slightly? Its almost like a flickering but it doesn't go off all the way, just sort of dims a bit it seems to happen only when moving slow or at a stop. I have no error lights and the radio and other functions like cruise control work fine. I looked under the hood and the battery connections look a bit dirty and old but I'm not sure where to really start on that one. Any ideas would be appreciated.
1) Every car has factory toe-in, camber, and castor settings. When the shop does an alignment, they'll look up the factory setting range and put the car within that. There is as much art as there is science to alignment... just go with the factory setup. I have the toe-in on my M5 dialed in a bit less than factory in the interest of tire wear, at the expense of corner traction. 2) Have you played with the dash light adjustment? There should be a dimmer adjustment on the dash... consult your owners manual. Beyond that, those Accords have a tendency to fry their dimmer circuit, which is about a $100 repair for the multiplexer.
Yes, it's an alignment issue. Take it to any alignment/tire shop and they'll be able to fix it and set up your car with standard settings. The only reason you'd want to change those is if you're not running normal suspension, have a lowered ride height, have non-standard tire sizes, or desire specific handling characteristics that changing those values would provide. I'm guessing you're not worried about that though. As to your flickering/dimming issue, if it gets worse when you increase the electrical load (wipers, high beams, defog, etc), then it's probably a case of a bad or failing alternator. Could be the voltage regulator, but I'd guess alternator. Take it to any repair shop and they'll be able to test it for you. EDIT: BrianH also brings up a good point... I'm not sure if it's your dash lights flickering or if it's your headlights or what. Do your headlights flicker normally? Could it be you're just noticing it when you've got your dash lights on? Do the interior lights do the same if you turn them on?
Rave! I know what thread this is. As for Lostox, sounds like an alternator issue potentially. Check it under loads
I'm a dummy clicking all over the place too fast. Powers that be, please remove the post, or leave it as a lesson for others.
So I'm rapidly moving into the car buying segment of the population. I'm looking for a hatch back or small crossover that'll take me on camping and skiing trips, be fun to drive, and preferably have a manual transmission. Also I'm 6'2", so the more headroom the better. Also, I'm 6'2", so, headroom counts. I've had my eyes on the Subaru Impreza hatchback as of late. The other cars I've been looking at would be the old model Mazda 3 hatchback (can't fit in the damn new ones), the Subaru Outback, Hyundai Tucson, and Nissan Rogue. The Impreza seems to fit my criteria rather well, has a great reputation for reliability, and the only complaints I can think of are that it's a bit slow on acceleration, the gas consumption isn't so great, and like any compact car, the interior's a little cramped. If you guys have any recommendations on other cars (new or used) I should be having a look at or things to watch out for with Subaru, I'd appreciate any advice.
So I drive a 2007 Impala and I recently had my first Check Engine light. To compound this sometimes when I start my engine it takes half a second once I fully turn the key to have the engine fire up (not failing to turn over, it just does nothing for a split second). Finally when I turned the car on, my lights (headlights and also the dash) were flickering. I turned the heat off (I left it on the last time I drove) and it stopped flickering. Does it sound like my alternator? My Battery? Is the C.E. light even related?
Looking around local used car listings, it seems that I'd be able to buy a 2 year old WRX hatchback for the same price that I could buy a well-equipped new Impreza hatchback, as 2009 was the launch of the new impreza / wrx / wrx sti model. It seems like a no-brainer, but I'm leery of getting cars when it's a brand new model because there's always a certain amount of recalls or awkward fittings or whatever with newly designed cars. Anyone have any pointers on the 09 WRX?
2003 Jeep Wrangler TJ. Problem - blown speaker in my sound bar. Apparently these are 'easy' to replace...and it's supposed to be a 5.25 speaker. I'm audio retarded. ANY suggestions or help would be super duper appreciated.
Buy your replacement from Crutchfield. You may want to replace both speakers so they sound the same but that's a question of dollars. The reason I recommend Crutchfield is because they have great customer service for helping you pick out what you need and typically don't try to oversell you (and they have online chat, which I love), their parts come with instructions on how to install whatever you bought, and their support department will help you after the fact if you need help installing it. Replacing speakers is trivial, the hardest part is almost always gaining access to the speaker. You probably have a friend who can help you. Alternately, you can just bring it to a car stereo shop and they'll do it all for you.
The first thing to do is to find out why the check engine light is on. Most auto parts chains - Autozone, Advance, etc. - will check it for free. It's possible that whatever has set off the check engine light is causing the starting problem. They will also be able to check your alternator and battery.
Beware previous "fast & furious" owners on all turbo/sporty used cars. Not sure if you're looking private sale (where you can better judge the owner) or going through the stealership but I'm looking at 09 STIs so I'll chime in. Check for modifications. An intake is one thing but if they modded the downpipe, exhaust, turbo settings etc I'd walk away quickly. The lil 2.5L boxer motor can take some abuse but who wants a ride that's been taken to redline in every gear cold and often. Not me. The overall cars are pretty nice. Ride quality is waaaaaay up compared to previous versions. Very popular model and they hold their resale value better than most cars in that class because of it's utility. Some people buy them for their sporty turbo quickness, some for the outdoorsy storage and AWD. Good luck.
1992 Honda Accord LX My heater fan isn't blowing and living in upstate NY that is kind of an issue in February. I replaced the relay fuse and the fuse for the fan itself looks good. Still no dice. Is there anything else I can check as a total car newbie or am I going to have to pay out the ass to get this shit fixed?
I'm driving a 2000 Saturn sl. Just had the front pads and rotors done while it was in for inspection, now I'm noticing a "whirring" sound from front passenger side. Seems to go away if I turn the wheel to the left. Speed dependent, not rpm dependent. Happens in gear, and neutral. Thoughts? I'd say bearing, but I figure the shop would have said something. (My dad and I have been using this shop for a while now, they've been good to us and we trust them) Any suggestions to look into would be appreciated. Really I just don't want to toss it up on jacks since it's cold as balls out. Speaking of the cold, my heat doesn't work. At first I suspected the t-stat, but after having the radiator packed with snow (oh hi snow drift), I was able to get the temp way up on the gauge, still blowing freezing cold air. So I'm thinking something is fucked with the mixing plate? Fan works fine in all 4 speeds or whatever, and the diverter still functions properly, meaning I can direct air to floor vents, dash vents, defroster, etc just fine. My other guess would be clogged heater core, but I'm not sure if it uses a single loop coolant system, or if the heater core loop is separate. Anyone know? Gratuitous green dots and epraise for any help
Do you have a voltage tester? If so, check the fan motor and see if it's getting power, when the key is on and fan turned on. That'll tell you if the fan is getting power or not.
That was the first thing I was going to say about any used WRX. Same reason you have to be careful with used Mustangs with the V8 and 5 speed from 1987 on up. People beat the shit out of them. Also, I'm 6'3", and there's no way in hell I'd be comfortable in a WRX. Those things are tiny. If it were me looking to do small camping/hiking/skiing trips, I'd get a used Audi All-Road. But, that's just me.
I don't have one but I found a friend who has one. I am going to attempt to check this if I can figure out how to get to the fan motor and get back to you.
The wiper switch on my 2007 Ram 3500 Turbo-Diesel is acting up. It's the twisty thing on the turn indicating lever. When I turn it one click, it's supposed to go into a timed delay, but lately it's been acting really weird. It'll usually just go normal speed, no delay, for about 10 cycles, then either stop out with the blades out of position, or just keep going. When I turn them off, it'll keep going, but then 4-6 cycles later, stop with the blades out of position. At that point, when I turn the switch on/off, it'll move the blades and then stop right when I turn it off, rather than going to the correct off position. And then another time it'll work just fine, as it normally should. Anyone have any suggestions? Does it just need some contacts cleaned in the switch in the indicator lever? Is there something else fucked? Does it need to be replaced, or is it controlled somewhere else? I don't have any experience with this (hell, most of my cars don't even have wipers), so any advice would be appreciated.
I've had similar issues in other cars, and it comes down to replacing the switch. Sometimes it's a dead relay (which is a bitch to fix unless you are good at unsoldering shit off boards and resoldering new shit onto boards) or it's dirty contacts. Usually, when you take those switches apart, some sort of spring goes flying out that you can never, ever find again. My Bronco needs a new switch, and it's around 35 bucks... Cheap enough that I'm not going to deal with the hassle of screwing with the switch.
I've decided that I'm going to buy a car. I've got it narrowed down to the new Mustang GT or a Challenger R/T but I keep going back and forth between them. Here's my reasoning on both cars. Mustang Good: Faster, better handling than Challenger Better gas mileage (not too important) Bad: It's the first year for the new engine/transmission. There might be bugs to work out Exterior styling is a little bit boring Challenger Good: Unique styling that I like Bigger back seat Can be had with a sunroof (not too important) Bad: More expensive for similarly equipped Mustang It's essentially come down to style vs performance. Add to the lists or tell me what you'd do.